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How to sell Alfresco into the Enterprise?

 
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Welcome Munwar!

A few months ago I did a survey of CMS solutions (both proprietary and OSS), and it was my conclusion at that time that Alfresco was at the top of the heap for enterprise-ready, open-source CMS solutions.

We are long time users of a proprietary solution. After being dragged through a few upgrade cycles (due to product EOL) it seems that today's version is an expensive overkill for our needs. I made a reco to move to Alfresco, but it died the death of a thousand political cuts.

Do you have advice for those of us who would like to make our enterprise customers more comfortable with an open source CMS? How can we best fit a product like Alfresco into an overall knowledge management strategy?

Lastly, are there any big managed services providers that are putting their customers in Alfresco?

Thanks!

Phil
[ February 06, 2007: Message edited by: Philip Shanks ]
 
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Hi Philip Shanks,

Welcome to the world of open source solution selling. We have been selling open source CMS since 2000. During that time most of the enterprises were not aware of "open source" (specifically in California). It was a hard sale.

Now the situation is changed. Most of the enterprises know the benefits of open source CMS. Customers feel comfortable with various aspects of a CMS whether it is open source CMS or an expensive commercial CMS.

#1. Quality of the Product

If the quality of the product is good (enterprise ready), then most of the customers do not hesitate to adopt it. For example Alfresco is being used in large enterprises all over the world.

#2. Good Support Services

Customers feel comfortable when there is a "stable" company behind an open source software. In case of Alfresco, there is strong company and solid team behind it (please read information at http://www.alfresco.com) with good support offerings.

#3. Good implementation

Customers also feel comfortable with a services company with a good track record of implementing open source CMS and rolling out successfully (please see the customer list at http://www.cignex.com).

I will be able to provide you good material so that you could impress your management with the capabilities of the product and the comfortable roadmap.
 
Philip Shanks
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Originally posted by Munwar Shariff:
Hi Philip Shanks,

...

I will be able to provide you good material so that you could impress your management with the capabilities of the product and the comfortable roadmap.



Thanks for your response, Munwar. I was aware of your three points, as these were the basis for my conclusion in the product survey that I mentioned.

I am interested in the materials that you mention. How can I obtain these?
[ February 07, 2007: Message edited by: Philip Shanks ]
 
Munwar Shariff
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The material has to be shared with known people. Please send me an email with your contact details to munwar at cignex dot com.

By the way I liked your quote a lot "My boss never outsources or has lay-offs, and He's always hiring. I work for Jesus! Prepare your resume!".

Good to know that people like you are evangilizing the open source...
 
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